______________________________________________________
Lita had driven the few miles to reach the hotel at which Dawn Marie was staying. The brunette had sounded absolutely terrible over the phone, and tearfully explained how she hated working for the WWE - particularly SmackDown. She'd gone on to say that she hated Paul Heyman with every fiber of her being, and Lita couldn't blame her...
Now, she sat on the bed in her best friend's hotel room, doing her best to console the other diva.
"Can you believe he's making me do that?" the brunette asked, her fierce anger allowing for her tears to dissipate. Although the question was really rhetorical, the high-flyer answered.
"Actually, yes, I can believe it... Heyman is nothing but a slimy pig - and we both already knew that based on our ECW experience."
Dawn Marie raised a hand to swipe at some now drying tears that were still on her cheeks.
"You would think it would be Torrie who would be forced to do something like that, what with all her Playboy crap, but no! After all, I'm the whore of SmackDown in everyone's eyes... Meanwhile, the real whore gets to go around and be everyone's favorite - the golden girl of SmackDown!" The thought alone was nearly enough to bring the diva to more sobs and tears, but she refused to give into them now.
Lita shook her head. It was disgusting, what Paul Heyman was making her friend do. It was bad enough that Dawn had been forced into doing pretty much nothing but competing in bikini and lingerie contests - but this was beyond bad... This time, for the next SmackDown taping, she would be forced in a Trick or Treat contest for Halloween - against Torrie Wilson, of course - and she was going to have to submerge herself in a tub of caramel and remove her top while within. All of this was for nothing other than the sickening satisfaction of all the perverted, horny men out there who probably couldn't get a date with a woman if they paid her. It was sad... The WWE, or at least the SmackDown half of the company, obviously didn't give a damn about women's feelings.
"Dawn," Lita said, her hazel eyes meeting her friend's brown ones, "Heyman can't get away with this shit... What he's doing to you is harassment - it's illegal!"
"I know that..." the brunette replied, nodding. She looked away and down at her lap, her hands rubbing almost nervously against the soft denim in which her legs were clad. "But I can't get out of doing it...I told him that doing something like that would mean kissing my chances of ever being taken seriously as a wrestler goodbye...bye he just laughed in my face," she continued, raising her gaze back to Lita's.
"Look, Dawn..." The redhead tossed some of her long hair over one shoulder and repositioned herself so that she was sitting Indian style. "You can't let that asshole get away with this! Even if you do this stupid thing he wants you to do, you don't have to stay here and put up with this shit!"
Dawn Marie turned her head sharply to look into her best friend's eyes.
"What...what do you mean?"
"I mean that you should do something about it - take a stand! Women like Torrie may not give a damn - hell, she enjoys doing degrading things - but that doesn't mean you have to put up with it any longer..." The diva gestured with both hands, the back of one smacking the palm of her other as she spoke. "If I were you, and if I were putting up with this crap, I'd quit..."
The brunette sniffled, her eyes again welling up at the emotion and ferocity in the other woman's voice. God, how she wished she were more like Lita... The redhead spoke her mind whenever, wherever, no matter what. She was so strong and inspiring.
"But what if... What if I can't get on RAW?"
"Oh, believe me, you'll get on RAW," Lita said confidently. "Or...if you'd like, Trish, Victoria and myself can move to SmackDown with you..."
Dawn Marie arched an eyebrow at her friend's last words.
"Why would you want to do that?"
"Um...To cause controversy, to shake things up a bit..." The redhead shrugged, a mischievous look overtaking her pretty face. "To get revenge on a certain human pig..."
The brunette laughed. She was so glad to have Lita as a friend.
"What do you have in mind?" she questioned.
Lita smiled devilishly. It was sure good to see Dawn Marie smiling again.
"Nothing yet...but I'm sure the four of us could come up with something really delicious..."